Maia initially was slated to fight Alan Belcher in the UFC Fight Night 22 headliner, but as MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported, he took the fight with Miranda after “The Talent” underwent eye surgery due to a detached retina.

The UFC recently made both fights official for UFC 118, which takes place Aug. 28 at the TD Garden in Boston. The night’s main card airs on pay-per-view, and two preliminary-card bouts air on Spike TV. Miller vs. Salter, though, is slated for the untelevised preliminary card.

Maia fights for the first time a UFC 112 title loss to middleweight champ Anderson Silva in April. Maia, who took the fight as a replacement for injured Vitor Belfort, suffered a lopsided unanimous-decision loss (though the fight is more memorable for Silva’s bizarre in-fight taunting and refusal to engage in later rounds). Prior to the defeat, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt posted a 6-1 record in the UFC and picked up four “Submission of the Night” bonuses.

He now meets Miranda, who impressed in his most recent outing when he spoiled Canadian veteran David Loiseau’s return to the UFC. The UFC 115 TKO victory followed a
disappointing UFC-debut TKO loss to Gerald Harris, who handed handed Miranda his first
professional defeat at UFC Fight Night 21 in March. Miranda fought his way into the UFC with an impressive 11-0 record that included nine stoppage wins.

Miller, the brother of UFC lightweight Jim Miller, is a former IFL middleweight champ who splashed onto the UFC scene with consecutive wins over Rob Kimmons, Matt Horwich and Jake Rosholt that pushed his win streak to nine fights. He’s he since posted consecutive decision losses to contenders Chael Sonnen, Maia and Michael Bisping. Family issues further compounded his troubles, though Miller never bowed out of a fight. Despite the losses, a source close told MMAjunkie.com after the third straight loss that Miller would, in fact, get another fight.

It now comes against Salter, an NAIA national wrestling champion who also owns a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The 25-year-old went 4-0 in just a seven-month pro career before he signed with the UFC. In his promotional debut, he then suffered a hard-fought third-round TKO loss to Harris at UFC Fight Night 20. Then, a UFC 113 fight was cut short when opponent Jason MacDonald suffered a nasty leg injury that left him with a dislocated ankle and multiple leg fractures. Salter, nonetheless, earned the TKO win.

The Latest

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?

Ronda Rousey’s statistical greatness has already ventured into uncharted territory – just six fights into her UFC career. Check out all the post-fight facts, including Rousey’s latest achievements, about UFC 190.